The Little Fur Family (Deluxe Edition) was a gift to Baby Bookworm from a dear friend, with whom I've shared many books over the years. It's pretty much irresistible from the exterior alone. Little Fur Family comes in a cardboard box, because the book itself is covered with soft brown fur, and has nowhere to put a title. A cut-out in the box allows young readers to stroke the little fur child's fur stomach (as shown).

But soft fur coat aside, I love this book for the cadence. I've only read it to Baby Bookworm a few times, but I already have parts of it memorized. It begins:

"There was a little fur familywarm as toastsmaller than mostin little fur coatsand they lived in a warm wooden tree."

Then follows a day in the life of the little fur child, who goes out exploring in the wild wild wood where they live. Nothing much happens. He stops to talk with his grandfather. He watches the fish in the river. He heads home when it starts to get dark. His parents sing him to sleep. But it's a very comforting story.

Margaret Wise Brown has a gift for writing passages that you just want to read out loud. My favorite part is:

"That sneeze woke up his grandpawho lived in a hollow stump.And grandpa came walking thump thump thumpand walked out of his hollow stump and said, "Bless you,"my little fur grandson,Everytime you sneeze ...."

What I like is that there's some rhyme, but it's not necessarily limited to the ends of each line. And the lines aren't all the same length. But the rhythm works anyway. Genius, I say.

Little Fur Family is illustrated by Garth Williams (creator of the definitive illustrations for the Little House books). It's quite text-heavy, with relatively small illustrations and quite a few pages that are all text. The illustrations are definitely secondary, but do add to the tone of the story. Williams uses a color palette consistent with the woods - lots of browns and greens and yellows. The little fur child is an intrepid figure, and his house is perfectly cozy (and may perhaps remind older readers of a certain little house in another, bigger, wood).

Little Fur Family is a classic title, destined to be a family favorite in our household for many years. Highly recommended.

Comments

The Little Fur Family (Deluxe Edition) was a gift to Baby Bookworm from a dear friend, with whom I've shared many books over the years. It's pretty much irresistible from the exterior alone. Little Fur Family comes in a cardboard box, because the book itself is covered with soft brown fur, and has nowhere to put a title. A cut-out in the box allows young readers to stroke the little fur child's fur stomach (as shown).

But soft fur coat aside, I love this book for the cadence. I've only read it to Baby Bookworm a few times, but I already have parts of it memorized. It begins:

"There was a little fur familywarm as toastsmaller than mostin little fur coatsand they lived in a warm wooden tree."

Then follows a day in the life of the little fur child, who goes out exploring in the wild wild wood where they live. Nothing much happens. He stops to talk with his grandfather. He watches the fish in the river. He heads home when it starts to get dark. His parents sing him to sleep. But it's a very comforting story.

Margaret Wise Brown has a gift for writing passages that you just want to read out loud. My favorite part is:

"That sneeze woke up his grandpawho lived in a hollow stump.And grandpa came walking thump thump thumpand walked out of his hollow stump and said, "Bless you,"my little fur grandson,Everytime you sneeze ...."

What I like is that there's some rhyme, but it's not necessarily limited to the ends of each line. And the lines aren't all the same length. But the rhythm works anyway. Genius, I say.

Little Fur Family is illustrated by Garth Williams (creator of the definitive illustrations for the Little House books). It's quite text-heavy, with relatively small illustrations and quite a few pages that are all text. The illustrations are definitely secondary, but do add to the tone of the story. Williams uses a color palette consistent with the woods - lots of browns and greens and yellows. The little fur child is an intrepid figure, and his house is perfectly cozy (and may perhaps remind older readers of a certain little house in another, bigger, wood).

Little Fur Family is a classic title, destined to be a family favorite in our household for many years. Highly recommended.

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